Saigon publishes etiquette code for tourists to cut out bad behavior

A foreign tourist takes pictures as she visits the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by AFP

With around 28 million visitors arriving last year, the city has decided it's time to teach some manners.

Ho Chi Minh City has released an etiquette guide, explaining all the dos and don'ts for both domestic and foreign tourists in Vietnam's economic hub.

According to the code of conduct, written in Vietnamese, English, Chinese, Korean and Russian, tourists are asked to respect the local culture, comply with regulations at tourist spots and public spaces, queue up to buy entrance tickets and prioritize the elderly, disabled, women and children. They are also asked not to commit acts of vandalism or drop litter.

La Quoc Khanh, the deputy director of the city’s tourism department, said that these rules have been introduced to prevent tourists from acting inappropriately given the tourism boom in recent years.

In 2016, the city welcomed an estimated 28 million visitors, up 10 percent against the year before and 27 percent against 2014.

The code of conduct has received positive comments from local businesses, who cited the recent success in cutting out bad behavior in Thailand after similar rules were introduced.

The rules are printed on a folding fan and handed out to tourists at Tan Son Nhat airport, hotels, tour agencies and diplomatic departments. The digital version will be broadcast on local television channels and projectors in public areas.

Last year, similar rules were released in other tourist cities, including Da Nang and Nha Trang.